The Hermes chronicles
by paulf81
Summary: Very loosely set in the Star-Trek universe. The Vulcans don't hold that much influence. Earth takes to the stars, dedicated to stay there. I don't own Star Trek, the protagonists are mine though.
1. Chapter 1 - The Interview

The Interview

I felt a bit nervous, I'll admit that. Sitting in the waiting area outside a Commodore's Office, just being told to show up at a certain time with no further details. I still did not really feel at home in my new fleet-issue-jumpsuit. It's not that it is scratchy or anything, I'm just not used to it yet. You can't get rid of 20 years wearing and doing what you like simply by joining the fleet. Being alone in the outer office didn't really help at all, not even another nervous ensign to talk to.

The door swooshed open, revealing a beautiful dark skinned woman, tall and slim. "Ensign 9?" I need a moment to refocus, she was talking to me. At second glance she was wearing the rank insignia of a Lieutenant-Commander. I crisply snapped to it. "Yes, mam", shouting a bit too loud. "They're ready for you." She smiled, I might not have been the first jumpy ensign she greeted that day. She motioned me to the inner door, taking a seat behind the receptionist desk and left me to my fate.

I entered the office, facing a large desk in front of a very large window looking out into space. I glanced around the quite large shipyard crowding Mars orbit. "Quite a view, isn't it?" Mentally kicking myself I came to attention and addressed the Commodore "Ensign 9 reporting for duty." "At ease, son. These are Lieutenants Smike and Sunblast." He motioned to two men standing at the side. "Lieutenants." "Ensign." Curtly nods given to me, acknowledging my existence. _I'm off to such a good start_.

The Commodore motioned to a conference desk with 6 seats, "Have a seat so we can get started." I noticed the layout, 3 sets of pen and paper on one side, a single one on the other. I took the single seat, the Commodore the one opposite to me. "First, Ensign, please relax. If you become any more nervous you might have a stroke." He smiled, I almost managed to smile back. "This is an Interview, not a court martial. Earth is about to start a new initiative and we think you might be a good match."

"Ok, sir. New initiative? That does sound intriguing, sir."

"Something very different than we did before, Ensign. Can you please give us a summary of your vita?"

"Of course, sir. There is not so much to talk about. I was born on the _Bethany_, a Y-class freighter that is operated by my family now in the third generation. We usually do the Mars-Vega run, transporting pretty much anything that there's to transport. I grew up doing every job that needed doing, work never ends on the _Betty_. My Grandmother set up a school for the children, i attended the standard curriculum. I even qualified for University, but decided against it."

"Why did you decide against University?" Lieutenant Smyke asked.

"It didn't feel right leaving space. On our trips we usually get on shore-leaves, which are quite nice. A bunch of new faces, fresh air, a blue sky. But after a couple of days I usually grow restless. It's too quiet for me. Nothing to do. I can't sit on my hands that long, sir."

"Ensign, what can you tell me about the Y-class freighters?" Lieutenant Sunblast asked.

"Well, it is the first interstellar freighter built by earth. It used the original Warp-drive with a top speed of Warp 1.1. Capable of carrying a cargo of 200.000 metric tons in different containers.

The design is modular, like a old-style freight-train. A ship, housing engine, crew and life-support connects to a spinal strut that has the warp-nacelles in the back. The freight-containers are connected to the strut, magnetically locked to it."

I lectured them, anyone who grew up on one the old freighters knows them by heart. Noticing their eyes starting to glaze over I decided to take a chance.

"Sirs, I don't think I'm here to lecture you on the Y-class, am i?"

The three looked at each other, the lieutenants clearly taken aback. The Commodore facesdme with a grim look on his face.

"No Ensign, that is correct. What is your personal opinion on the Y-class?"

"Honestly, sir?"

He nods. "They're relics. They've been built with only a rudimentary understanding of warp-physics. The whole layout is directly out of the history books. The worst thing? They have not been any serious upgrades in 60 Years for them. I tried to talk my father into upgrading the ship. I managed to get an upgrade for the life-support system. That was marginal and it took me three months of talking. It is about time that they're replaced."

Now the three are smiling at each other.

"Ensign, what do you know of Earth's colonies?"

"I know all three of them, if you do count Mars. As it is still undergoing the terraforming process it is marginally habitable, with a population of about 5 Million. Mars orbit, as we can see-", i point3e to the window "is a mayor shipyard in the Sol-system. Mainly used for fleet but also some civilian construction.

Alpha-Centauri was the first colony founded when the warp drive was developed and deemed save for use. It has a population of 3 Million and is self-sufficient. It also has a small Space-station in orbit which is mainly used for Cargo transfer.

Vega is pretty much the same, but younger and smaller. As it is not yet self-sufficient it is receiving quite a bit more traffic."

The Commodore nodded, looking at his notes.

"That about sums it up, why do think that is, Ensign? Let me be more specific. Why do you think we have only 2 Colonies outside our Home-System with a population of barely 8 Million when we've had the capability to travel at Warp for 80 Years?"

I gulp, that had to be a trap!

"Sir, I'm not sure I understand the question. Every Colony effort is a huge one, a Colony ship is constructed, equipped and staffed. The ship then travels to its target-location and lands on the planet, where it is disassembled to form the first buildings of the colony. It is quite an effort, Sir. But honestly I never understood why it takes 40 Years for a colony ship to be launched."

All three looked at each other, nodding. The Commodore leaned forward.

"Ensign, what we tell you now is something only a very few people outside this room are aware of, you'd be advised to keep it that way. Do you understand?"

I gulp, nodding.

"Good. There are certain powers that don't want Earth to become too strong, they don't think we're ready to venture out into space. They think it'd bring chaos and war to the galaxy."

I wanted to argue but his raised hand stopped me short.

"That may or may not be true, Ensign. The point is that we can't stay limited to just 4 Planets any longer. If Earth is attacked, billions could die, the colonies are not even nearly self-sufficient enough. That's what we are about to change. We'll make sure that mankind gets to the stars."

I blinked. That is not what I expected at all.

"That sounds all nice and good Sir, but where do I come in?"

He slid a datapad over, showing schematics that look familiar but are not.

"That's how. Have you heard of the Hermes-Project?"

"No, Sir. Not that I recall."

"Good, the Hermes-Class is a next generation freighter which is quite different from the old Y-Class."

"I can see that, Sir. The design is a lot more streamlined. It looks to be more flexible, how big is it?"

"It is about 3 times the length of a Y-Class, about 600 meters in the starting configuration."

"Wow, that is big", I started to zoom into the schematics.

"Basic design is simple enough, the cargo is connected externally?"

"Yes, the ship is basically consists of the drive/crew section and a modular spine holding the cargo bays, the bow is formed by the deflector assembly. It allows to store containers in a pressurized environment and allows for a lot greater flexibility. The cargo it can carry can be a lot bigger. We are currently in the design phase for colonization modules to be place instead of the cargo bays. This gives us a very flexibly, reusable colony ship."

He stood up, pointing me to follow him to the window. Touching it he activates a zoom-window showing a ship that looks very much like the schematics.

"That is the _Hermes_, first of her class."

It sure looked impressive. Light-grey instead of the brown of the old ones. Large crew-section at the end, a long and narrow spine holding six orange cargo bays.

"Won't the Vulcans object to this?"

"Ensign that is a bit above your clearance level don't you think? The Vulcans don't run Earth, not if I have something to say about it."

I nodded

"I couldn't agree more, Sir. But still, what do you want with me?"

Lt. Sunblast had approached and was handing me a new datapad.

"This would the maiden voyage of the _Hermes_, you'd be on board at her helm. We need people with deep space experiance, like you. It is still a prototype."

I looked over it, noticing a rough course already plotted leading to a star cluster quite a bit off.

"The mission is to the Tartus-Cluster, ever heard of it?"

I could only nod my head no.

"Doesn't surprise me, it is about 200 LY from Earth, 220 from Vulcan. As far as we know no one has a claim to it. You'll help lay that claim, Ensign. The LTs. will form the senior command crew with you, Ensign. Normally we'd put a Captain in Command, but to keep it low profile it'll be ca Lt.-Cmdr. billet. Officially the mission is to open trade opportunities with the natives. Unofficially you'll scout every habitable planet you find that is not occupied or claimed otherwise. The ship will be provisioned for an extended journey. We expect it to be about 1 year until you return to Earth."

My mind started wandering, to go out there, into the unknown.

"Ensign, you're still with us?"

"Sorry, Sir. Of course. Sir? Where do I sign?"


	2. Chapter 2 - First glance

Of course it was not that easy. During the course of 4 hours I lost track of the number of documents that I had to sign. Reviewing the confidential specs revealed quite a different ship than the old Y-class freighter. Engine-compartment and crew section was packed at the back of the ship. From there a long spine extended forward, ending in a large navigational deflector. The spine would serve as anchor for the cargo modules, providing power and life support.

The spine was modular, sections could be added and removed without the need of a space dock, but had to be stored somewhere. Each section was long enough to fit a cargo module with some room to spare. Connection the sections were airlock-modules. On the front the airlock was replaced with the deflector assembly.

The spine connected to the crew section with a launch bay, housing 2 crew shuttle pods and 4 cargo lifters. Each cargo lifter was big enough to carry one standard container. Enabling the ship to bring containers up from and down to a planet without any orbital facilities.

"Of course the cargo lifters are not the most efficient way to load and unload the Hermes." Sunblast pointed out.

"It would take forever just using them."

"Indeed." I answered.

"They have to land, unload the container and take off again, then be reloaded to repeat the process."

"Yes, but if there's no orbital facility to conduct cargo operations using ferries it is still possible. Considering where we're going this will be important."

"Ok, makes sense. Not every port has facilities to handle containers that have been the standard for mass shipping on earth for centuries. I have not visited one so far."

"Yes, curious isn't it?" The Commodore chimed in.

"As far as we know no one is doing the kind of mass shipping that we consider completely normal on Earth. We're about to change that. The Hermes can transport one year worth of cargo from Earth to Vega with room to spare and do it in just two weeks' time. This will speed up our colonization effort tremendously."

After several hours the initial briefing was concluded and I was ordered to take a shuttle pod to the ship that was waiting for me. I was quite light-headed with all the information presented to me. I carried a secured briefcase full of pads with all the information and much more to review as soon as I would find the time. I arrived at the launch bay in no time, amazed that I did not get lost.

"Ensign 9!" The shout startled me, waking me from my thoughts.

"Yes!"

A smart looking, young crewmen greeted me.

"Crewmen Svenson, I'm to take you to your assignment. Please follow me, mam."

He led the short way to a waiting shuttle pod. As I was the only passenger, I could choose my seat.

"Mind if I call shotgun?"

He grinned back. "Not at all."

I stored the briefcase, noticing that my duffel was already stored, I had completely forgotten about it, leaving it at my temporary quarters that morning. Then I strapped myself into the seat for the co-pilot.

As he went through the pre-flight checklist I let my thoughts wander. I barely registered him asking for launch clearance. I did notice the Pod leaving the Bay. I have not used shuttle pods very often, but I doubt that I'd ever grow tiered of the view. Leaving the Bay the cockpit revealed the stars.

Some larger spots betrayed ships and installations in high Orbit of Mars. Turning the shuttle pod the Planet came into view. Rust colored like it has always been, the very thin atmosphere barely visible. After some Minutes of flight one of the specks of light started to grow. Using the controls I zoomed in to reveal the Hermes. Dominating the ship where three cargo modules with large white numbers on them. The ship was out of the cradle dock and docked at the side. A mobile working rig was attached to the side we were approaching. At the back the warp nacelles where glowing slightly.

"I see they managed to start the reactor." Svenson remarked.

"Was there a problem with it?" I asked.

"It is a brand new ship, first of her class. Problems are to be expected, so I've been told."

"Right." I had not thought of that. Ships where usually well broken in, new parts where very sparse and easily recognized for being clean and sparkling.

"Are they still working on it? I thought the ship was finished?" I asked.

"It is. They're making some modifications, but I was not told what they're doing."

A hail interrupted his explanation.

"Space dock 6 to shuttle pod A5, you're cleared to land in Bay 2, sending guidance signal. Now."

"Confirmed, 6." Svenson replied crisply.

"Locking onto guidance signal, ready for approach."

I closely monitored his action, I just could not help myself. His handling the Pod spoke of quite some experience. I often stole glances to the Hermes, the work rig coming into view until it was cut off by the station's landing Bay.

"Smooth landing, Svenson. Thanks for the lift!"

I unstrapped and got out of the seat.

"You're welcome, Mam. Anytime."

Grinning he ran through the checklist to power down and secure the shuttle pod.

"When you do this run 6 times a day you get enough practice."

"I can imagine."

I got up and grabbed the briefcase and started for my duffel bag.

"You can leave that, Mam. It'll be delivered to your quarters. "Thanks." After the hatch opened I moved to exit the Pod.

"Thanks, Svenson. Good bye."

"Till the next time, see you."

I left a bit puzzled, entering the Bay. It was not very big, almost identical to the one on the station if a bit grimier. It was apparent that this was a place where work was done, looks would take a second place naturally.

I could not spot someone who looked like my welcoming committee, so I just asked the next crewmen I could find.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, Mam?" the woman answered.

"I'm ordered to report to the Hermes, can you show me the way?"

"Easy, Mam. Just follow the green line, that will lead you right to Airlock 5, that where she is docked."

"Thanks."

With that I set out, following the lead. There were quite some colored lines on the ground, every few meters the destination and an arrow pointing me the way. After a short Journey I arrived at the open Airlock, ready for anything.

So I thought.


	3. Chapter 3 - a good start

Crossing over to the ship's proper i expected just a normal ship, pretty much what I'm used to.

In a way it was that. On the other side of the airlock a grey, nondescript corridor greeted me. Sparkling clean and still smelled brand new. It was wider than the ones on the Bethany or on the space dock.

I came up at an intersection looking at a map. The indicator told me to head left for the crew-quarters, so I set out to find my new home. What I did not expect was to not meet anyone. The corridors were deserted, it was quite. A faint noise in the distance indicated some type of work being performed, most likely linked to the working rig attached to the ship.

I easily found my quarters, my name already attached to the bulkhead. I was positively surprised. It was a lot roomier than expected and from the looks of it I would not have to share it.

_I have my own bed, a desk with a chair and my very own drawer with still some room to spare! _

I might not be able to dance in here, but usually this would provide bunking space for two to four crew members, so I was quite happy. A small door opened to a small bathroom, the shower stall barely big enough to squeeze myself in. _Still, my own! I don't have to share!_ The Computer on the desk beeped, crying for attention.

I stored the briefcase with the classified pads in the desk-drawer sealing it. Then I focused my attention on the computer. It displayed my personal messages, some from my folks back at the Bethany, some from friends I made in basic training.

One was from Sarah, my roommate back from basic. Last time we spoke she was very excited about her first mission as an exo-biologist. I can't imagine anything more boring than having to poke at molds on a strange new planet, but I did miss her.

I found my duty roster and downloaded it to my PDA. It revealed that for tomorrow an introduction meeting was scheduled, so I had nothing more to do for the next couple of hours. Pondering on whether to start studying the information about the ship and the mission or simply go exploring and find out where everyone was proofed to be not a hard decision.

Opening the door I almost barreled into a small being, as I just managed to catch him from falling it turned out to be a handsome, painfully thin young man. Apparently a chief, judging from his rank pips. He quickly became quite flustered, apparently he was about to ring my door-chime when i almost ran him over. His slight form literally bouncing of my large frame was not really helping. He managed to hold on to a stack of brown coveralls he was carrying, no small feat.

"Sorry!"

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" We both spoke together, paused and started to laugh. His face turned red in an apparent try to match the color of his hair, which came up to about my chest.

"Let's try again." I said.

"Hi. I'm Jo 9, Navigator."

I stretched out my hand, flashing a wide grin in the hope to calm him down. He managed to only jump back a tiny bit. He looked up to me and grabbed it to answer:

"Jim O'Hare, I'm the quartermaster. Nice to meet you, mam. I'm here to deliver your overalls."

"Great, thanks."

He handed them over. I managed to take a look, apparently they were the same design from the one he was wearing. 'E.C.S.' stenciled on the right breast pocket and his name on the left one. Basically the same as the one I was wearing, but brown colored instead of the navy one that was fleet-issue.

"Chief, I have a question. Where is everyone? I expected the ship to be quite busy and not that quite."

He smiled, answering,

"You should have seen it 3 days ago, couldn't walk a step without bumping into one of the space dock goons. They're almost done now, just the finish on the cargo bay so our passengers can be comfy and we're good to go."

"Good to know, where is the rest of the crew?"

"The deckhands are all on board downstairs, the engineers are pocking around in the back-rooms I think I saw one or two of the officers, but the captain and the rest are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, I expect them to trickle in over the next two days."

"All right, thanks chief."

Holding up my new stack of coveralls "I'll just put these away and go have a look at the ship. Anything I should be aware of?"

"Not really, mam. Only the cargo bay is being worked on, the rest of the ship should be fine." He looked nervous.

"If there's nothing else, mam?"

"Sure, sorry. Dismissed and thanks." He nodded his thanks and scampered off. I hope I managed to calm him a bit, I can be a bit intimidating to men. Especially if they're that small and thin. I took the opportunity to change into the new coveralls. They had a shoulder patch that I failed to notice earlier, displaying a stylized image of the Hermes with ‚E.C.S. Hermes' surrounding it.

I carefully exited my quarters and went to explore the ship. I marveled at the cleanliness and the smell. A new ship was something of its own kind. Every ship I've ever been to, had been clean and well-maintained, but you could always tell the age in some way. I stopped at a wall mounted plan.

It displayed the box that was the ship with its 3 decks, i was apparently on the topmost deck, the habitation deck. It showed the engineering section to take up one third of the ships aft section, covering all three decks.

The second deck was dedicated to operations, it contained the bridge, a conference room and the quarters of the captain.

The lowest deck was dedicated to maintenance. The passage to the spine was also located at the second deck. Access ladders where placed more or less evenly, there was also a lift in the aft of the ship. Probably to move spare parts or other equipment.

I located the next ladder and descended to the second deck. The noise was more prominent here and I headed towards it.

The access to the spine was a massive hatch that was currently open, due to some thick cables connected to an access point and trailing through the bulkhead. They disappeared in another hatch that presumably gave access to the cargo bay.

Entering the spine was an interesting experience. It was the largest hallway I've ever seen on a ship, more the 4 meters wide and at least 6 meters in height, it was also very long, according to the specs it should be 54 meter. The end was dominated by an identically massive hatch like the one that lead to the ship.

I just followed the cabled to the open hatch. Expecting a massive cargo bay I was quite surprised to enter what looked very much like a small lobby. Not finding any signs I followed the cable to the left side to a well-appointed lab area where work was conducted at some machinery off to the side.

As the cargo bay was much higher, 20 meters if I remember correctly, there should be several levels as the ceiling was much lower than that. In the back several hatches lead somewhere, presumably more labs. A staircase at the side lead up to the next level. I was about to turn around to check the other side when I was stopped with a stern "Can I help you?"

An orange-clad dockworker – one of the goons - had spotted me and run over. He looked familiar, when he had reached I recognized him, his face also showing quite some realization that extended to a wide grin.

"Jo! What are you doing here on this tub? Don't tell you'll be flying it?" I smiled broadly.

"Tim! Still with the knuckle-draggers I see! Yes, you're looking at the new navigator of this 'Tub'".

"Then you'll be glad to hear that we're as good as done installing the extra live-support systems. We should be out of your hair before the day is out, just finishing up here."

"That is good to hear, any plans for when you're done here?"

"I now do." Flashing a wide and toothy grin that I returned.

"Good, my place at 1800."

Without waiting for a reply I turned and left, smiling all the way back to my quarters. Upon arriving I noticed that my duffel had arrived so I busied myself with packing away my stuff and taping my family pictures above my desk.

After that I pondered what to do to kill the time. Having to decide between taking a shower and grabbing something to eat, I headed for the crew mess. I found it next to the crew quarters. Chief O'Hare was busying himself in the pantry, which filled one wall. The rest of the room was filled with smaller and bigger tables and accompanying chairs. Hardly big enough to sit the whole crew in one, which was not really necessary as everyone would eat according to his or hers shift schedule.

"Miss 9, what can I help you with?"

Smiling at me he gestured to a small buffet with sandwiches and the coffee machine built into the bulkhead.

"I'll just grab a bite and some coffee, thanks chief."

"Sure" he turned and left me to choose. I settled for a Cheese and Tomato sandwich and a Mug of black coffee and took a chair. The coffee was rather weak but the sandwich was quite good. I stated this to the chief.

"Yeah, I know. I did not have the time to tinker with it, but don't worry. I'll set this beauty up to produce black gold in no time."

Satisfied I returned to my quarters to take a long missed shower.

The shower stall was really just big enough for me. After bumping my elbows several times I got the hang of it and managed to enjoy the hot water without hurting myself.

Freshly cleaned and casually dressed in a shirt and sweatpants I settled at my desk to busy myself with the top-secret content of my drawer. I started my categorizing the pads.

Some contained details of the Hermes, essentially all the clever idea they had when dreaming up a new type of freighter. Especially interesting where the design concepts that expanded on the idea of a modular ship that can easily be adapted to a wide range of tasks. One draft for a large style colony transport was quite intriguing.

One pad was solely dedicated to proposed upgrades of the ships weapons. A freighter is not a warship, so naturally it has next to no weapons and is rarely heavy armored. This was common knowledge, sadly that also to pirates and other ungodly beings.

The Hermes was armed. She had 2 Plasma cannons. One on top of the base and one on the bottom of the box. Both had a limited firing arc. But the idea was more to serve as a deterrent.

I skimmed the rest of the pad, it did hold some interesting concepts for arming the ship that would take the special design into account. But the best fight is always the one that does not happen in the first place so I went on to the next pad.

That contained preliminary data on the region that was our area of operations.

Studying the pad I heard my door chime. I'd completely lost track of time!

"One moment."

I swept the pads back into the drawer, sealing it.

Reaching for the door controls I keyed it to open, looking right at Tim's grinning face.

"Hello sunshine."

"Hi, is it time already?"

"Almost, we finished early." Holding up a small box he continued.

"May I enter? I brought gifts!"

I made room for him to enter and closed the door behind him.

"Gifts, how nice of you."

He set the Box down on my desk and opened it. When he turned he held a roll of duct tape in his hand, his grin was even larger than before, maybe even as big as mine.

"You know just what a girl wants."

I did not study any more the, although I did not get a lot of sleep it was a very good night.

A very good way to start this journey.


	4. Chapter 4 - departure

I woke up slightly bruised and a still a bit exhausted. Like it should be after a fun night. Tim was already gone, he did have the curtesy to untie me. Didn't have to tell him twice.

After a quick shower I set out for some breakfast before the scheduled meeting that should get this mission started.

After acquiring some cereal I checked the coffee. It was a bit improved and stronger, definitely going in the right direction. Checking my PDA for the time I quickly inhaled my cereal and made a run for it.

Quickly descending the ladder to the command deck housing the bridge, the captain's cabin and a conference room, among other things, I headed straight for the conference room.

It was almost packed to capacity with 8 people already present. I took one of the free chairs noting the empty one at the front of the conference table where the captain was still missing. I glanced around, noticing some familiar faces, like LTs. Smike and Sunblast, but mostly strangers.

Counting myself, five people were dressed in the ships overalls, the others were wearing civilian clothes. To my surprise and delight Sarah was sitting next to an older man, likely one of the researchers.

We made eye contact but had not much time for anything else as the door was closed shut by a small and energetic woman of middle age carrying a large pad. She was also dressed with an overall, proudly displaying the ships name on the back. She crossed the room and came to a stop at the head of the table behind the empty chair.

"Good morning ladies and gentleman. My name is Emilia Wong, I have the privilege and hopefully the pleasure of being your Captain for the foreseeable future."

With that she was finally taking a seat, placing her pad in front of her.

"You all have signed a non-disclosure-agreement, so I don't have to remind you to keep things to yourself."

Confirming nods from the people around the table encouraged her to continue.

"To make things short: We are to visit planets and evaluate their potential for colonization. Long range scans are hinting on a couple of likely candidates, but we'll be mostly on our own out there. That'll be when Dr. Schmitz will come into play."

The older man nodded.

"For this mission we took on a science-crew. They'll be housed in cargo bay 3. The bay has been converted into a combination of lab and living quarters. The latest report shows that the upgraded live-support systems are online and working?"

LT. Smyke nodded.

"Yes Captain, the science bay is good to go as are all other systems. We have a slight variance in the deflector assembly that I was hoping to address after this meeting."

He glanced in my direction.

"If you could lend a hand, ensign? I'd appreciate it."

"Of course." I managed to answer without any delay.

"Thanks."

"Our operations plan calls for us to leave as soon as we're ready, ECS wants us to leave within 48 hours. Any objections?"

The Captain looked around the table, inviting any challenges. Sunblast answered:

"We should be pretty much good to go. All the equipment is stored, the hydroponic units are set up. All small craft are secured. As soon as the science-crew is settled in, we should be good."

"Dr., how is the science-crew?" Nervously Dr. Schmitz answered.

"Ah, yes. We're short one exobiologist, he should arrive within the hour. The lab is functional, all storage units are good to go. We should not have any problems to leave in the next day or two."

As there were no one else seemed to raise any concerns, I raised mine.

"What about the course?"

"Excellent Question. Let me show you."

Pushing some buttons on her pad the Captain dimmed the lights and a star chart lid up on the monitor behind her.

"As you can see we are here."

The chart zoomed in on Earths surrounding, highlighting Alpha-Centauri and Vega in the vicinity and Vulcan quite some lightyears away. Some more input zoomed out quite a bit, Earth-territory was only a small blue dot.

"This is our destination." A small cluster of stars was highlighted with a green circle.

"Cluster 4A17, also knwon as Tartarus. Dr. Schmitz would you care for an explanation?"

"Certainly."

The screen zoomed in on the cluster, highlighting several of the stars. The screen spilt, scrolling data on the right side, stars on the left.

"Cluster 4A17, contains about 50 Stars from a wide variety. The detailed make up is very interesting and has been provided to you to study later. Our long-range sensors indicated that about 20 of these stars have planets in the habitable zone, that would mean about 20-40 planets that can possibly support human live!"

There was quite some silence after that.

"What about indigenous live?"

"Are any of them already inhabited or even colonized?"

Several people asked, beating me a fraction of a second.

"We don't know yet. There have been no traces of subspace communication or traces of warp-travel in the region as we can detect. Problem with that is the distance. At more than 50 LYs, Sensors can only tell us that much. That's why we have to take a look."

"What about the Vulcans, they don't lay any claim to planets there?" I managed to ask.

"Not as far as we know. They don't travel very far from their home system and they usually don't colonize far out either. Very much unlike us." I interjected.

"Could you please zoom out and show the corridor that we'll travel?"

Focusing on the monitor only very few stars come up.

"Ok, that might be one reason that cluster does not get much attention." Noticing some blank and some carefully neutral faces I continued.

"There is not much between the cluster and known space. According to this data only one probably inhabitable planet – and that is on the low percentage for it." A lone star was highlighted.

"Add to that the distances involved it makes it quite remote and out of the way." Some people exchanged glances. The Captain spoke up first.

"That is exactly what we thought. That lone star is our first and hopefully only stop. So I'd like you to plot a course after you're done with the deflector. I'd like to get going as soon as we're ready. I'm sure you all have a lot more questions, it might be best if you'd study all the mission data first, so for now I'd like to conclude this meeting. Unless anyone has some concerns regarding departure?"

All shook their heads no, so the Captain stood and turned off the monitor.

"Thank you for your time. We'll meet again this afternoon to finalize our departure schedule."

With that she left the room. People started chatting in small groups. I noticed Lt. Sunblast approaching.

"Ensign, let's get to the Deflector."

I nodded confirmation and followed him out of the room. I manage a quick wink at Sarah, then it was off to the Deflector. We passed three identical passages of the basically empty spine before we stopped in front of an armored bulkhead, identical to the last ones. If not for the markings spelling "Deflector" in capital letters it would be very easy to get lost.

"What is in these cargo holds?" I asked, feeling the need for some conversation.

"They're empty for now. They're designated for stuff to bring back to earth in case we – the science staff that is – find something interesting." a distracted Sunblast answered, just now looking up from the pad he was carrying."

He opened the bulkhead, sealing it behind us while opening another one. After passing the airlock we finally entered the Deflector assembly.

"Normally this would be an integrated part of the ship, but here we have a very different approach."

I nodded, the whole compartment could be detached and another segment of the spine could be added, thus changing the characteristics of the whole ship.

"It must be a lot more flexible as the warp-geometry can change between flights." I answered.

"Yes, it took us 3 days to calibrate it for this configuration and we're good to go now. But there's still a slight phase-variance we can't seem to check out. It should not be any problem, but I could use a fresh set of eyes." He explained, handing me a scanner.

"Ok, let's get to it."

I analyzed the scanner-output, yes there was a slight phase-variance.

"Have you monitored this at warp?"

"Yes, it is stable up to Warp 4.5, so it should be fine." No big deal then, unless.

"Have you checked to polarization of the main dish?"

"That was the first thing we checked, turned out fine. Wouldn't hurt to recheck, I tried pretty much everything else."

With that we got to work. The Deflector compartment was pretty cramped but comfortable. During Operation at high Warp this place would be getting pretty warm, as it was the only thing between the ship and a huge amount of cosmic radiation colliding with the ship at high speed. A large amount of energy was used to keeping it that way.

After crawling around in the innards of the generator on our backs for three hours we were down to manually checking the connection cables for the feedback control.

"I found it!" Sunblast yelled excitingly, startling me so my forehead met a poorly placed piece of comfortingly stable metal.

"Ouch!" that really hurt!

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. What did you find?"

After carefully crawling out of the generator backwards I found him sitting on the deck holding an optical cable with a huge grin!

"Bad cable. Looks like this somehow passed Quality Control but did sport a slight variance. It's gone now!"

I wiped my brow only to find some blood.

"You should get that checked out, looks nasty."

"My pride is hurt a lot more, don't worry."

"Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, it's not like I helped a lot."

"That's where you're wrong. You performed a manual diagnostic for three hours. That allowed me to find this one. Could not have done this alone." He smiled at me.

"Get to sickbay, I'll finish this up here. Thanks again."

I waved goodbye, returned the scanner and headed back to the ship proper.

After returning to the ship I quickly found the medical compartment. It was actually large for a freighter, sporting a diagnostic bed, a scanner built into the wall and a large cabinet with lots of medical stuff I couldn't make heads or tails of.

Seeing no one at first glance I followed some noises coming from a small doorway at the side. I almost collided – again – with the chief when he exited it.

"Hello, you startled me. Can I help you?"

I took a step back allowing him to see my face.

"Yes, I had a little accident."

"I see, have a seat." I sat on the appointed bed while he fetched some gloved and other equipment.

"What happened?"

"I bumped into a strut while crawling inside a deflector generator, happens."

"All right, I can fix you right up, won't leave a scar, don't worry."

He applied some disinfectant and an anesthetic.

"You're lucky, I won't have to stitch you up."

"Thanks, so you're our medic?"

"Yes. The science crew has a physician, she is over at the lab setting things up. I can go and get her if you want."

"No, don't bother, I'm confident in your care."

He grinned at me and got to work. After only a couple of minutes he was done.

"There, all set. Try not to bump into stuff for the next few days and come see me tomorrow."

"All right, chief. Thanks."

With that I strolled outside into the corridor and thought about what to do next, read up on the mission data or plot a course for the first leg of the journey or catch up with Sarah? Without much thought I headed for the bridge.

Unlike many other vessels the bridge of the Hermes was not located on the outside of the ship with real viewports, I never understood why you'd do that. There's not much to see in space without magnification. A monitor is much more practical and does not propose a potential security hazard.

I enter a quite busy bridge. The Captain was at the central station, reviewing some pads. On the port side a large Ops Station was manned by LT. Smyke and a young man in civilian attire.

Starboard the engineering Station is manned by a Rating I met at the meeting before. I make my way to the front of the bridge where the navigation console is located. It has a manual joystick for maneuvering at thrusters and a lot of equipment that was all new and shiny.

I took a seat, checking the controls to be in docking mode and locked. I used my pad to access the mission data, especially what was known about the lone start and the surroundings on the way there.

With that I started plotting a course.

An alert from my pad interrupted my work, it was time for the next meeting. That was fine, I transferred my work to the pad and got up to get to the meeting.

Apparently I was the last to arrive as the meeting was started with only the Captain, Sunblast and Dr. Schmitz present.

"All right. What's our Status, LT.?" Sunblast answered smoothly.

"Thanks to the help of Miss 9, we're good to go. All System at full readiness." She nodded, turning to the scientist.

"Dr.?"

"Yes, Dr. Pet'l has arrived and is settling in. We're all eager to start."

"Pet'l? That does not sound like a human name."

"That would be because he is Vulcan, a highly capable scientist. He already worked on Vega and Alpha-Centauri."

"All right, if he's fine with you."

"He is. I'm very confident and feel lucky to have him."

"Ok, that brings us to you, Ensign. Do you have a course for us?"

"Yes, with your permission?" As she nodded yes I projected my course on the bulkhead monitor.

"As you can see I was planning on not going in a straight line for the lone-star but more or less a corkscrew. That will allow us to get close to most of the stars that are in a reasonable distance to our course so we can perform some long range scans. We can then decide if we want to investigate if we find anything interesting. We can also just go directly for the lone-star.

The difference in travel time would be about 1 week, allowing for a short stop and a scan at each target."

"Yes, that looks very good to me." An enthusiastic Dr. Schmitz answered.

"How close does this take us to these Stars?"

"We come up to a distance of 2 LYs, which would allow our Sensors to show if there is anything of interest."

"Yes, this works for me. I'd like to take that back to my colleagues to get their opinion. They might want to skip one or two and investigate some further, if that's all right with you, Captain?"

"It sure is. This is basically your Mission, Dr.." He got up to leave.

"Dr. A moment?"

"Yes?"

"Can we agree on the first leg of the journey? So we can get underway?" the Captain asked.

"Of course, I'll have that within the hour."

"Thanks.".

With that he left the meeting with my course data on his pad and without any further word to us.

"This is going to be a very long trip." The Captain sighed. I could not agree more.

"What is it with the rush, I thought we have the better part of 2 days to launch?" I asked.

The Captain glanced at the bulkhead that had already closed after the scientist.

"I'm urged from the Colonization office to get underway. Apparently there is significant political pressure to cancel this mission."

"So if we're gone, we're gone already."

"Exactly, Ensign. So please get to your station and prepare for departure."

"Yes Mam!" We all got up and left.

I arrived with the Captain at the Bridge, after taking our stations the Captain keyed the PA for a ship wide announcement.

"Attention, this is the Captain. All hands, prepare for departure in 56 Minutes. The Airlock will close in 46 Minutes. That is all." After a short shocked moment activity on the bridge went up quite a bit as everyone got ready.

The countdown went as far as 50 Minutes when Dr. Schmitz arrived at the bridge.

"Captain, I can confirm the first target as Ms. Nine suggested, we're ready to go."

"Very good Dr., please man a seat at the science station, we launch in 3 Minutes." The Caption replied.

"Airlock secured".

"Confirm" LT. Smyke confirmed from OPS.

"All Stations confirm. Ship is ready for departure."

"Course?"

"Laid in, ready to launch."

"All right, undock us from the station, Ms. 9."

"Confirmed"

I issued the Commands, the umbilicals retracted and the docking clamps released.

"Undock confirmed, we're free to maneuver."

"Get us into position, thrusters only."

"Aye, Mam."

Carefully the thrusters fired to move the ship into position. I monitored the readouts closely, ready to intervene should something go wrong.

"In Position, ready for sublight."

"Ahead, quarter sublight."

"Launching."

The sublight engines kicked in, barely noticeable with the inertial dampeners.

"We are now in Position for Warp."

"All right, this is it. Take us out Ms. 9, the stars await."

"Yes Mam."

With the press of a single button the ship lurched into Warp, a slight vibration noticeable.

"Reaching Warp 1."

The vibrations disappeared. LT. Sunburst form Engineering was quite busy.

"How are we looking, LT." The Captain asked.

"Looking good, warp field is stable, all systems nominal. We are ready for high Warp. Take us there nice and easy, Ms. 9."

"You heard him." The captain confirmed.

With that I started gently at the throttle, moving it towards Warp 2. Reaching Warp 2 I paused for a moment, as there were no alarming noises or anything else I smoothly tuned the ship up to Warp 4 with no problems.

"Congratulations. We are now officially the fasted cargo ship in Earth space." The Captain announced.

"Good Work everyone."


	5. Chapter 5 - First leg – System HX-124A

I could not remember feeling so excited in a very long time. I was in a ship travelling at an unbelievable speed to an unknown destination. And it kept getting better!

„Capt. I think we can safely speed it up a bit." Sunblast addressed the Captain.

„Take us up to 4.5 Ms. 9. Gently, if you please."

„My pleasure." I could not hide my grin as i pushed the throttle slowly forward.

„Reaching Warp 4.1." I announced. Beside from a slowly mounting tension, nothing noticeably changed.

„4.2." i continued pushing the throttle."

„4.3, 4.4." The tension was mounting, as a slight vibration started to build in the deck.

„Holding at Warp 4.5." I announced. I felt exhilarated! Only 1 other human Spaceship has ever traveled that fast before, and only for a short amount of time.

„All looking good so far, looks like a slight misalignment in the inertial dampeners." Sunblast announced. „I'd recommend we stay at that speed and see how she is doing. With your permission, Captain, I'd like to have a look at the engine."

The Captain nodded, dismissing him.

I barely noticed Sunblast leaving i was so focused on monitoring the sensors analyzing the ships movement at this incredible speed.

After a while the vibration ceased. The ship was completely still and relatively silent.

„Seems like he fixed that alignment." The Captain muttered.

I kept my attention focused on the sensors. They looked clear so far until our destination which would now be 6 hours off. As i did not have anything else to do i settled in for some time of quite attentive observation.

„Time to target?" The Captain asked.

„6 hours." I replied crisply.

„Very good. Stand down, Ms. 9." By the look on her face she did not miss me being slightly confused. „We don't yet know what we'll find at this star system, i want you rested and ready.

„Yes, Mam." I replied and keyed for a replacement. After quickly updating the rating that serves as a stand-by helmsmen i left for my quarters asking myself how to use this unexpected downtime. Just as i arrived at my quarters i realized that this decision has been made for as I spotted Sarah leaning against my door.

"You planned to stay there and wait for me?" I called to her.

Her smile managed to brighten the corridor!

"Sam." She practically flew into my arms. "Finally. So good to see you! How are you? What are you doing here?" She started rambling questions. I managed to calm her down and gently maneuvered her into my quarters where we settled down to talk a bit. Turns out she was selected as one of the exobioligsts for this mission. That explained what she was all excited about in her last messages. She was not much surprised to see me here, and to be honest, neither was I to see her. We were both pretty good in our fields of study and eager to venture out into space. Time vanished without noticing as I was called to the bridge way too soon.

I said my goodbyes to Sarah and made my way to the bridge while she made off to her lab in the science module. As I arrived I checked the time, it felt too soon for arrival and it was, we where still two hours short. I shot a questioning look to the Captain as I took my station.

"Report, Ms. 9" The Captain ordered.

"We're stable at Warp 4.5, 2 hours till we reach the first star system." I replied reading my controls.

"Dr. Schmitz wants to fine-tune the long range sensors, so please drop us out of Warp and lets have a look."

"Aye." I carefully pulled back the throttle, easing the ship to lower Warp and finally managed to drop us back to sublight with only a slight tremor. I quickly checked my controls. "We are secured from Warp." Checking my sensors I added.

"Short range sensors are clear, long range sensor data coming in." The rating at OPS chimed in. Just as Dr. Schmitz entered the bridge with two of his fellow scientists in tow.

"Good. Commence long range scan." The Captain ordered.

With the ship safely at sublight I checked my console for the status while OPS was conducting a long-range scan of our target system. Everything looked fine so far, not necessarily expected by a brand-new ship that has spent quite some time at very high speed.

"Long-range scan complete, Cpt." Lt. Smyke from OPS added. "Sensors show the target system is 6 light years away. Comprised of a Class 6 Star with 8 planetary bodies. There is no planet in the habitable zone. Two Gas giants." he continued.

"Thank you." The Captain added. Pushing a control on her console she opened a channel. "Dr. Schmitz. Our Sensors show very much what we expected, any news on your side?"

"Ah, yes. Captain. We are currently analyzing the data. I would like to continue to the system for a thorough analysis. At the very least we could use the data to fine-tune our Sensors."

"All right, Dr." The Captain switched the channel. "Engineering, how are we doing? Are we clear to go back to Warp?"

"This is Sunblast, all looking good so far. I'd like to run a quick diagnostic, Captain. Shouldn't be more than 10 Minutes." Closing the channel the Captain seemed to relax.

"All right, you heard them. Hold our position and continue long-range scans. Lets see if anything else is out here." The captain ordered and Smyke went to work. I kept checking my own controls and just stood by.

After a couple of Minutes the all-clear was given by Sunblast and I sent us on our way again, this time accelerating smoothly up to Warp 4.5. As it was only 2 hours to go I decided to stay at my post till the arrival.

Busying myself with the data of the next target-system and an occasionally glance at my controls time passed uneventful. Before I even noticed a gently beeping alerted me to our final approach.

"Arriving on target." I announced, the mood on the bridge shifted to slight anxiety.

"Drop out to sublight." The Captain commanded.

"Dropping to sublight." I pulled back the throttle and the low sound of the engines faded to almost nothing. "Secure from Warp." I Announced and busied myself with my controls. "Position confirmed, just as indented."

"Good work, Ms. 9." She turned to Smyke. "Perform a scan, coordinate with the good Dr." Smyke nodded and became busy. After a while it turned out that a more detailed scan revealed a large amount of information that was stored for later studying. But as there were no surprises it was quickly becoming very clear that this was just a very quick stop.

"All right." The Captain finally announced. "Meeting in 10 Min. Lets get on with this." She got up and left, Smyke and myself followed shortly afterwards.

When we arrived Dr. Schmitz was already in the conference room with the Captain.

"Ok. Dr. Schmitz, is there anything in this systems that has peaked your curiosity?" The Captain asked the Dr. straightforward.

"Oh, it is quite fascinating." He got up, transferring some data to the screen. "As you can see this system has pretty much everything that is to be expected, but just not a single planet in the habitable zone. So for colonization, this is a write-off. Scientifically speaking There is very much to learn here."

"I'm sure there is." The Captain interrupted. "The real question is now, is there something here that would justify spending more time here investigating?" She looked him in the eyes. "Or do you have enough data to go over while we are underway to our next target?"

He paused a moment. "Honestly, no. There does not seem to be anything here that would justify a deep investigation. Which does not mean that there is not." He looked at the data scrolling on the screen. "I think we can move on, I'd like to run some more scans first. But after that we can move on."

"What scans do you need?" Smyke asked.

"We would like to have a detailed scan of the inner system, if that is possible." The Captain looked at me.

"I could plot a wide slingshot around the local star, that would take us close to the inner 3 Planets and put us in a position where we can easily make the jump to Warp." I explained after consulting my pad with the navigation data. With a few clicks a simple course was projected on the bulkhead-screen.

"Would that work for you, Dr.?" The Captain asked.

The doctor zoomed out a bit, satisfied he nodded. "Yes, that looks good to me. The next target on your list, Ms. 9." He asked me.

"Do you want to skip it?" I asked him.

"No. It is fine. In fact we went over your suggested course. We agreed on it. At this point we don't have too much data to safely exclude any of theses systems." He explained.

"All right then." The Captain concluded the meeting. "Ms. 9, plot the course through the system. Coordinate with Mr. Smyke to make sure we have good sensor coverage." Smyke and I looked at each other and nodded.

"Thank you and dismissed." We got up and left, heading back to the bridge.

"How long will it take to get through the system?" Smyke asked.

"Depends how straight we want to go, I estimate 2-3 hours, 4 tops." I answered.

"All right, I was not planning on getting old in this system." He grinned back.

"Don't worry, plenty more systems to visit."

"Yeah, I just hope we find something a bit more exciting."

"I don't worry about that. There should be plenty to discover."

We reached the Bridge and took our stations where I started to input the preliminary course data. Once finished I transferred it to the OPS to Smyke for review.

"Got it, give me a moment." He worked silently fo a while. "Looks good to me. We have good sensor coverage of the inner system and the star itself."

"All right." I answered, calling the Captain on the PA for confirmation.

"Captain, we have the course, confirmed by Mr. Smyke. We're good to go." I called out after she answered.

"Very good, go ahead, take us in. Full sublight."

"Aye, Captain." I closed the call and went to work. With the course already plotted I accelerated the ship to full speed and engaged the autopilot.

The first half of the Journey took us 1,5 hours and was completely uneventful. As we passed the star sensor data from behind the star started pouring in. My controls did not show anything unusual, Smyke apparently did see something.

"Oh, what is that?" He exclaimed.

"What have you got?" I asked, my curiosity peaked.

"It looks like a live-form. In space." He said.

"That is impossible!"

"I do read something very close to live signs and some sort of organic matter, but there is no energy signature, no spaceship, nothing." He explained. "I've flagged it for the eggheads, lets see what they make of it."

I didn't take long for Dr. Schmitz, a slender young Vulcan and the Captain to arrive.

"Really? A live-form in Space?" The Captain asked.

"Thats what the sensors say, Captain." Smyke explained.

"Captain, that is something that we really should investigate more closely. The scientific implications are beyond everything." Dr. Schmitz exclaimed excited.

"Indeed Captain, there have been some vague rumors about something like this that were mentioned to Vulcan scientists over time. But we could never confirm or deny them. It is very much possible that this is a live-form that is able to survive in Space." He added calmly, just as you'd expect from a Vulcan.

The Captain considered the answers for a while before addressing Smyke.

"How far of course is this live-form?" She asked him.

"We should pass close enough for a closer look. About 30/40 thousand kilometers." He answered.

"Then maintain Course and speed for now." She looked at the scientists. "Will that be close enough for you?"

"That is hard to tell, it certainly is for a first analysis." Dr. Schmitz answered.

"Good, then continue with your analysis." "Ms. 9, time to target?"

"About 20 Min. until we are in optimal sensor range." I answered, having checked constantly.

"All right, continue." She turned to the two scientists. "Can you perform your scans from OPS or do you need to be in the lab? I'd like to be able to quickly react to the situation, if necessary."

"That is not a problem, we need a console to set things up, but as we mostly rely on the Sensors we should be good." Dr. Schmitz added, pointing to the vacant console.

The Captain nodded and the Scientists went to work. While they configured their status I kept close watch on our new friend. As we drew closer the sensor image became clearer. It was quite big, almost one kilometer long, much bigger than the Hermes. The mumbling at OPS was low but constant. But now the voices where getting louder.

"Gentlemen?" The Captain interrupted.

All three men looked dumbfounded.

"What can you tell me?" She asked.

"Not very much right now." Dr. Schmitz said. "We need to analyze this data and get a better look. I'd like to delay our departure for some time to study this."

"All right, Ms. 9, hold our current position relative to the creature." She conceded.

"Aye. Changing course." I slowed the ship to a crawl and changed the course to keep pace with the creature.

"Very good. Lets say we meet in 2 hours so you can present your findings." With that the Captain got up and left the Bridge.


	6. Chapter 6 - that was unexpected

The guys where working feverishly on their consoles gathering as much data as possible about the creature. I was extrapolating the course of the creature - so far it was in a wide orbit of the star - when the noise at OPS rose quite a bit.

„Energy levels are rising!" Smyke shouted.

„Look at the readout! This amount of energy in a living creature should be impossible!" Dr. Schmitz interjected.

„It is changing it's course, out of the system. It is accelerating" I announced. „Changing course to follow."

The Captain came sprinting to the Bridge.

„Keep on it Ms. 9, but give it some room, I don't want to scare it." She ordered.

The creature was slowly gaining as I had not accelerated the Hermes.

"Energy readings are leveling out, it seems to be stabilizing." Pet'l announced.

"Acceleration has stopped, it now moving at about ¾ sublight." I managed to report. "I'm staying with it, distance is now at 80 thousand km."

"Should we try hailing it?" The Captain asked.

Dr. Schmitz and Pet'l looked at each other. "We simply don't know how it communicates. We could scare it off, we could maybe talk to it."

"I would advise caution, any action on our part could be interpreted as aggression, we don't know what this creature is capable off." Pet'l added.

"Really? You think it could hurt us?" The Captain was clearly not convinced.

"I don't know. But it's reaction indicates that is most likely aware of our presence. A lot of creatures try to avoid a potential threat first before they attack." Pet'l replied calmly.

"I'd first like to gather as much data as we can before we try something new." Dr. Schmitz concluded.

"All right. Keep scanning. Ms. 9, hold our Position relative to the creature." The Captain announced and settled into her chair to study the readout on her console.

After quite some time the silence was disrupted by a cheery voice.

"Don't worry, coffee is here!" Exclaimed Sarah. She entered the Bridge carrying a small tray with 6 insulation cups of – what could only be presumed to be coffee!

She distributed the coffee around earning remarks of thanks and gratitude. Pet'l first declined, but gratefully accepted a cup of tea. I accepted my cup with thanks, noticing that it was a bit stronger than this morning, chief was getting the hang of it.

"I heard about the creature, this is really exciting. A space-whale." She exclaimed cheerfully.

Dr. Schmitz and Pet'l where looking at each other.

"Totally inaccurate." Dr. Schmitz exclaimed, Pet'l raised an eyebrow. "Indeed."

"Space-whale it is then!" Sarah announced again.

"I suppose, until we come up with a more accurate name." Dr. Schmitz conceded. Sarah grinned broadly, warming the room.

"I'll head back to the lab, we're all going over the data, it's fascinating."

After 2 more hours of keeping the distance and course, the autopilot was doing just fine, I finally got of my shift and headed to my quarters. As I was tired but woo wound up to sleep I decided that it was time to work out. That I haven't in a few days was just adding to the case. I changed into my workout gear, sweat pants and a tank top that showed my Abs quite nicely, grabbed my towel and water bottle and headed out. First to the galley for some water and directions.

"The gym is at the lowest deck, should not be very crowded by this time." The chief informed me with a smile. "Be sure to check in when you're done, I'll safe some of the last strawberries for you.

"Thanks chief!" With a smile on my face I climbed down the ladder to the lowest deck. This deck was mostly quarters for the deckhands, a small cargo bay for spare parts and supplies and – among other things – a gym. The gym was just a small compartment with as much workout gear packed into it as was feasible if people should still be able to operate it. As I entered two deckhands where lifting weights and one guy who could only be one of the scientists on one of the threadmills. He was far to smart looking to be a deckhand.

I started my routine by warming up and stretching for some minutes. I had my back turned to the room but I was still aware of the stares I was receiving, I was used to it. I was quite tall for a woman, but with 1,7m not a giraffe. I was always described as being wiry, which always though was accurate. After my workout I went over to the treadmill. Setting the speed to a comfortable 12 km/h I set the timer to 30 Min and started jogging.

After some time science-guy was done with the treadmill and headed over to the dumbbells where I would have a good view. He selected quite a heavy one and started to work out, occasionally glancing in my direction. I could easily tell he was trying to impress me. The weight was obviously too heavy for him as he was doing his set very slowly and he was struggling and was quite unsuccessful at hiding it. I grinned to myself, obviously I did not hide that too good as he was grinning back.

I was saved by the deckhands who came strolling by and stopped in front of my treadmill.

"Gentlemen". I greeted them. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Is this guy bothering you, Ms?" The right one pointed a thumb at science-guy.

I managed not to laugh – barely. "Don't worry about him. He is just exercising. I'm just fine."

"Is it true that we found a space-whale?" The other one asked.

"You already heard? News travel fast! We did find a creature that apparently lives in Space. How that is even possible, I have no idea. We're currently trailing it on a course out of the system." I answered them.

"Is it any dangerous?" The first one asked.

"Truth is, we don't know. But I'm not overly worried. We have quite some distance between us and it and so far there were no aggressive moves made." I tried to calm them. I was interrupted by my alarm clock.

"All right, might some of you gentleman be my spotter?" I asked as I stepped down from the treadmill and headed over to the weights. In truth I could have lifted by myself but it was always better to have a spotter. I also didn't want to give science-guy any ideas.

"How much do you lift?" The first one asked as we where navigating workout equipment.

"Today I'll go light with 40 kg, it was a long day." He looked at his compatriot. "Ok, lets set you up."

We set up the weights and I got onto the bench, both of them positioned themselves at each end of the bar. I started and did a set of 10 repetitions followed by another one. I set down the bar.

"Would you please add another 20 kg, that was way too light." They looked at each other and complied.

I started again, that was better. The next set of 10 was still not taxing but I did start to work up a sweat. After another set I put the bar down and got up.

"Thanks guys. Appreciate it." I helped them put away the weights and toweled off the sweat. Then I went over to a rack to do some pull-ups.

It took me about 1 hour to get through my normal workout routine, I added some extra sets of burpees as I have skipped a few days. After that I was done and was looking forward to some strawberries and a hot shower.

As climbed up the ladder I decided that I'd hit the shower first, strawberries later. Entering the corridor that let to my quarters I noticed someone lurking outside. It was science-guy, not a big surprise. He had already showered and changed, compared to his tidy looks I felt extra grimy.

"Hello there." He smiled at me.

"Hi, can I help you?" I answered tiredly.

"I was hoping. I watched you work out and wanted to introduce myself. I'm Rick."

"Joe, nice to meet you."

"Would you care for a drink, Joe?"

"Thanks, but all I want now is a shower, maybe later. Ok?"

"Of course, I'll stay in touch." With that he turned and left back to the ladder.

I managed to enjoy my shower, the hot water feeling so good, relaxing my tired muscles. I changed into some clean clothes and headed out to hunt for some strawberries.

Arriving at the galley I noticed the same guys from the gym enjoying some late night snack and waving my over. I retrieved my bowl and headed to their table.

"Please join us." They started to raise as I took a seat. "Gentleman, I'm flattered." They looked at my strawberries.

"Where did you get these? Chief told us he is all out, the little weasel."

"Don't beat him up just yet, he was saving them for me. We had a little run in on my first day so he is trying to make it up a bit, he does not have to, still feels nice. Feel free though, I can't eat them all anyway."

they did not hesitate and quickly we emptied the bowl. We spent almost an hour talking. They introduced themselves as 'Serge' and 'Tony', which I found a bit odd. Turned out they are brothers who did pretty much everything together. Being from a small town in eastern Europe they where very glad to be in Space. They were fascinated with me growing up in Space, that was a long time impossible for people outside the African union. After quite some talking I managed to call it a night and headed to bed. I managed to get into my quarters and strip out of most of my clothes before I fell asleep.

I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the Space-whale, which was quite a silly name if you thought about it.

Before I got up I checked my PDA for any news while I was asleep. Apparently a briefing was scheduled later today to present the first findings on the space whale. I then went and got ready for my shift. After getting dressed I headed to the galley for cereal and coffee. The galley was quite crowded with some deckhands, I also spotted Smyke and Sunblast. With my cereal and coffee I went over to them. They were already discussing the whale.

"How does it move? I mean it is moving in space. That should not be possible!" Sunblast was quite curious.

"What does it eat? Does it eat?" Smyke added. "We have no idea."

"Ms. 9, have a seat, join us." Sunblast added, noticing me.

"What do you think of this, space whale?" Sunblast asked.

"It is amazing! I never thought something like this would even be possible. Can we commnicate with it?" I answered during spoons with cereal.

"Again, no idea. The Scientist must have spent the whole night with the Scanners, but I don't think they know much more. This 'whale' is different to any life form previously recorded. We just don't have any basis of reference." Smyke explained while sipping his coffee.

"The Vulcans have never encountered anything like it before?" Sunblast asked

"Pet'l is not sure, but he did not recall any space born life forms." Smyke answered.

"You'd think this is something that you'd remember." I put in after my cereal was gone.

Just as I got started on my coffee we were interrupted by the Com. "Senior Officers to the Bridge, now!"

We all sprinted to the next ladder and hustled to the bridge. The bridge was close to chaos, I almost ran over the rating that was manning my station.

The screen at the front bulkhead displayed the end of the whale now glowing brightly.

"Energy levels are still rising. There seems to be some reaction on the surface." Dr. Schmitz informed.

Before anyone could react it was gone. The Bridge felt silent as we all sat in shock. After 2 seconds it erupted into Chaos as everyone was speaking at the same time.

"Quite!" The Captain shouted. "Did that creature just go to Warp? Do you still have it on Sensors?"

"Scanning, Captain. So far I don't detect anything." Smyke answered.

"That energy signature did not look even remotely like a Warp-Signature. It might be something completely different. Fascinating." Dr. Schmitz added.

"I agree. Briefing in 2 hours. We need to decide our next steps. Ms. 9, hold our Position."

I nodded while the Captain left the Bridge again. With nothing left to do I brought up the last course data of the creature and ran an extrapolation, _let's see where you are going_.


End file.
